It's Friendship
by greengirl82
Summary: A series of oneshots about the unexpected friendship between Emily and Hotch...
1. The Vault

**It's Friendship**

Disclaimer: Criminal Minds is CBS, not mine.

Summary: Hotch and Emily get trapped in a vault together while pursuing an unsub and can't stand it...

A/N: Here's a new series of one-shots, all about friendship between the dark-haired pair.

Thanks for reading, don't forget to leave a review.

* * *

"Why is it that hate comes out so easily, yet love? It gets trapped inside." Author Unknown

* * *

"Son of a bitch" Emily muttered banging on the bank's vaulted door, pounding on it "Come on! People are trapped in here."

"Calm down, Prentiss." Hotch said moving around trying to get a signal on his phone "Anything on your earwig?"

Tapping the device in her ear, she pulled it out, "No, damn it."

Hotch kept moving around, "Ah ha. Found a signal."

Emily watched as he dialed a number, "Rossi? It's Hotch. Prentiss and I are trapped in the vault. What? Seriously? Fine. I'll try..."

Pulling the phone away from his ear, he closed it and groaned in frustration.

"What happened?" Emily asked "When can they get us out of here?"

Hotch sat down, "The vault's on an automatic timer, so it could be opened by hand..."

"Oh thank God" Emily said relieved but when she saw his face, "What else is there?"

A grunt escaped his lips, "Unfortunately the unsub cut the power, and the power company is backed up..."

"Backed up?" Emily moaned, "What could possibly take priority over an outing at a bank?"

"A hospital" Hotch said "Apparently people need power for things like breathing machines, and lights for surgeries..."

"Nobody likes a smart ass, sir." Emily muttered sitting on the floor against the wall.

"Maybe we can live without the sarcasm." Hotch said looking her in the eyes.

Feeling her breath stop, "Alright." Emily said.

Feeling antsy, Emily got up pulled off her vest and tossed it on the floor.

"God I hate this." Emily said "Why the hell did this unsub have to go and cut the power?"

Looking over at her, Hotch said, "I didn't know you hate enclosed spaces."

"I don't" Emily said folding her arms over her chest "And you don't know anything about me."

Groaning, "Prentiss..." Hotch started.

"See? Right there, you don't even call me by my first name" Emily said "You know what? Never mind, this is so not the time or the place to have this kind of discussion."

Hotch felt bad about that, and saw her lean her head against the wall as she closed her eyes, he could see that she was practicing controlling her breathing.

"I'm sorry" Hotch said quietly, "I'm sorry that I was rude or insensitive, Prentiss... I mean Emily."

"It's fine." Emily said in her usual tone of placated politeness.

"No, it's not." Hotch said getting up to sit next to her, "So, if you're not afraid of enclosed spaces, then what is it?"

She rolled her head, as she opened her eyes, "Alright, so maybe I'm not afraid, but I hate tight spaces, alright. There, I admitted it, happy now?"

"I get it" Hotch said quietly turning to look at her, "After Foyet's attack I got a little paranoid about safety. Going over the alarms and locks all the time."

Feeling bad for snapping at him, Emily looked over, "That's not an irrational fear. It's one of self-preservation."

"Thanks" Hotch told her, "And I do hope you know that I don't intend to hurt your feelings by calling you Prentiss, it's just that..."

"It's fine, Hotch" Emily told him, "It's really not a big deal. It's not like I call you Aaron or anything. That'd be just weird, and awkward. We're colleagues and you're my boss, so it's not a big deal."

Looking up at the flickering lights of the ceiling, "Well, I know we're on friendly terms and all, not exactly friends but maybe we can try to be. You are after a person I'd like to consider a friend."

"Ok" Emily said not giving it much thought, "We can try."

Hotch looked back over at her, "So... can you tell me why you hate tight spaces? If I'm not stepping over any line."

Closing her eyes, she exhaled and then looked over at him, "I guess if we're going to try the friend thing, that I'll have to tell you. But whats said in here, stays in here."

Hotch nodded, "Ok."

"When I was fifteen living in Rome, I had an abortion" Emily said looking away not seeing the shock on Hotch's face, "I sat in a cold sterile room, and was scared out of my mind. The only thing that kept me from totally losing it, was Matthew holding my hand, telling me to close my eyes and count backwards in my head."

"Matthew Benton?" Hotch asked.

"Yes" Emily said, "No one but Dave knows about it. Matthew could tell how scared I was. I felt like the walls were closing in on me, I had never been afraid of tight spaces, but sitting on that sterile table, I thought I was going to have a heart attack. But I just closed my eyes and listen to Matthew's words and kept counting."

Looking down, "Dave doesn't know about that part. No one did until now."

Hotch took ahold of her hand, "I'm sorry. I see why that case meant so much to you, because of him. Thank you for sharing it with me."

Just nodding her head, "Don't worry, I won't make you share some big secret. We all know how much you value your privacy."

Watching as she leaned against the wall, closing her eyes and quietly whispering a countdown, Hotch cleared his throat.

"My father" Hotch said feeling his voice tighten at what he planned to talk about "Wasn't the like all the other fathers."

Emily opened her eyes at that tone, looking over at him she could see he was struggling, so she placed her hand on his.

"He liked everything in a certain order and if it was even a fraction of an inch out of place," Hotch said squeezing her hand, "His punishments were severe."

Emily could hear his breathing laboring so she placed her hand on his shoulder, "If you don't want to talk about this I understand."

"I remember one time, I was about fourteen or fifteen, and Sean was maybe five, we were outside playing in the backyard." Hotch said, "He wanted to play basketball with me, but he was so small. So I gave him the ball and was helping with a lay up and he missed the basket and hit our father's car. When he came outside he looked beyond angry, and I couldn't let Sean get that punishment."

Emily felt her heart drop with each tone in his voice, "And you took it for him?"

Hotch nodded, "And when mother came home and she saw my face and arms, my father told her I fell out of a tree."

"How old were you when he died?" Emily asked.

"Seventeen, he died from cancer" Hotch told her "I had to give the perfect eulogy of how he was a great father and how much I idolized him. But when we left to go to the cemetery for burial, I told him that I was sorry he died before I got a chance to tell him what I really thought of him."

"Oh." Emily said seeing his face tense, she squeezed his hand "Do you want to tell me what you said?"

"I told him that I was angry at him for the way he beat Sean and me around, how he seemed to have my mother blind to his faults." Hotch said, "And I hated him for making me fear what I'd come home to, and wonder if when I walked through the door was I going to be beaten or ignored. That I was mad that he took his frustrations out on two children who never did anything wrong. And that I hate him because I was afraid that I'd become someone like he was and I never wanted to be someone who'd take my anger out on a woman or children."

The brunette bit her lip, sympathetic to Hotch's childhood, she subconsciously started picking her nail when she heard his soft voice continue.

"I told him that I forgave him because I need to move on with my life because now that he's gone I don't have to worry that Sean will have to go through this anymore," Hotch finished.

Emily felt the tears on her own face, "Thank you for trusting me enough to tell me."

Turning around, Hotch said, "Thank you for listening."

Hotch looked down to see their hands still connected and didn't pull away when his cell phone rang.

"Now how the heck do you get cell service but mine won't?" Emily joked whiping her face.

"Garcia's magic." Hotch said, "Hotchner. You are? Ok. Well we're still in here. Hurry up."

"We're getting sprung?" Emily asked "How much longer?"

"Few minutes." Hotch said looking at the clock on his phone "It's after midnight."

"Feels like it." Emily said stretching, frowning when she heard movement at the vault door "Looks like they're here, Hotch."

"You can call me Aaron off duty." Hotch said, "Ok?"

"Only if you call me Emily." Emily replied with a teasing smile, "Can you say Emily?"

"Like I said, sarcasm." Hotch said seeing the vault doors open.

"Wow, you two are still alive" Dave joked "Look Morgan, not even a scratch on them."

"Sarcasm is humor's ugly cousin, Morgan." Emily said standing up, heading towards the doors.

Turning around, Emily said, "You coming, Aaron?"

"Coming, Emily." Hotch replied with a smile, picking up their FBI vests.

* * *

Douglas Pagels said, "A friend is one of the nicest things you can have, and one of the nicest things you can be."

* * *

**Until Next Time...**

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	2. Roadside Assistance

**It's Friendship **

Disclaimer: CBS owns Criminal Minds, not me.

Summary: Hotch and Emily are on their way back from a witness interview when their SUV breaks down. The two hostile personalities try to pass time while awaiting help and decide to get to know each other.

A/N: Here's a new chapter in this series. Enjoy.

Thanks for reading, and don't forget to leave a review.

* * *

"What lies behind you and what lies in front of you, pales in comparison to what lies inside of you." Ralph Waldo Emerson

* * *

Hotch groaned when he heard the tire pop.

"Damn it." Hotch muttered as he pulled the SUV to the side of the road.

"What?" Emily said startled awake by the jerking of the FBI issued car.

"It's a flat tire" Hotch gruffed out "Call the auto club, so they can someone out."

Emily raised an eyebrow at him, "What? The almighty Agent Hotchner doesn't know how to change a tire?"

Hotch gave Emily one of his patterned glares as he got out of the SUV, following him towards the rear of the car he checked out the back tire.

"Did you make the call?" Hotch asked looking over at Emily.

"No." Emily said checking out the damage to the tire.

"Well, you know the car doesn't drive too good with a hole in it." Hotch said sarcastically.

"Uh, what a baby. It's a flat." Emily said pushing him out-of-the-way to pop the back of the SUV "I'll fix it."

Emily pulls the tire out of the back of the back of the car, pulling out the jack and tire.

Hotch stood there in amazement at the fact that Emily changed the tire without needing a hand, walking over to her he said, "Need any help?"

Rolling her eyes at her supervisor "Yeah, thanks. Take the flat."

Placing the flattened tire in the back of the trunk then the jack, Hotch wandered back over, "Anything else?"

"You did good, thanks" Emily said sarcastically "Get back in the car."

Not flinching at her words, "Look I'm willing to explore the whole being dominated thing, but let's just take it slow."

Scoffing, Emily put on the cutesy act, "Fine. Can you please get back in the car? I'd like to get home some time this week and clean oil off of me."

"Now was that so hard?" Hotch sarcastically asked, heading towards the driver side door.

"Smart ass." Emily muttered getting back in the passenger side.

Turning the key in the engine both dark-haired agents groaned when they heard the car sputter and an orange 'check engine light' flashed before the car went completely dead.

"Are you freaking kidding me?" Emily muttered.

Looking over at the angry brunette, Hotch said, "I don't suppose you know how to fix this, do you?"

"Nobody likes a smart ass, Hotch." Emily said dialing the auto club.

Hotch smirked watching her try to keep her tone even as she got on the phone with the service club.

Groaning as she slammed her cellphone shut, "Possibly an hour or so."

"Great." Hotch muttered resting his head on the steering wheel, while he checked his watch for the time.

"What time is it?" Emily asked as she looked at the darkened sky.

"After ten pm." Hotch said hearing her sigh.

"God, this is boring." Emily said.

Hotch leaned up from the steering wheel, "Sorry I'm not better company."

"Want to make it up to me?" Emily asked looking over at him "Entertain me."

"What?" Hotch asked surprised.

"God, I'm not asking you to sing or anything" Emily said sighing "How about we get to know each other?"

"Get to know...?" Hotch repeated "We've worked together for nearly five years, I think we know each other pretty well already."

"You think so?" Emily asked "How about this you tell me three things you know about me outside of the BAU and if we'll see."

Sighing as he rubbed his hand across his face, "Fine. Let me think."

Emily watched Hotch rub his chin, then smirked.

"Ok" Hotch said "You told me once, you dated men worse than Viper."

Emily shuddered "All right, one."

"Your mother was stationed in Rome, where you met John Cooley and Matthew Benton" Hotch added then winced at the mentioned of her late friend, "Sorry."

"That's ok." Emily said quickly.

"And you're a Kurt Vonnegut fan" Hotch added "You're grandfather had a cabin in the mountains and you have a cat named Sergio."

Emily raised an eyebrow, he actually listened to her when she gave out personal information "Who knew you actually knew all that."

"I do pay attention" Hotch said then added "Part of the job."

Her heart sunk at that admission, but she kept her face neutral, "Ok, my turn."

Hotch rubbed his hands together, "Now let's see how much you actually know."

"You have a younger brother, named Sean who's a chef in New York." Emily said.

"Mm hmm" Hotch replied watching in the moonlight as Emily rubbed her thumb against her hand.

"You joined the drama club to impress Haley" Emily said smiling at that memory, "Sorry."

"No don't be" Hotch told her "It's a good memory."

"And..." Emily said thinking "You worked as a prosecutor for the District Attorney's office before becoming an FBI agent."

"Too easy." Hotch said looking at her.

"All right," Emily thought for a moment "Your mother went to Mary Baldwin College."

Hotch was startled that she knew that, she smirked "I do pay attention."

Hotch turned to look out at the dark road, "Told we knew each other."

"Sure" Emily said sighing "How much longer?"

Hotch flicked on the light on his watch, "About a half hour. Hopefully."

Stretching Emily got out of the front seat to get in the back.

"What are you doing?" Hotch asked feeling her body close to him.

"Look, I'm tired" Emily said "So wake me up when someone shows up."

"Great" Hotch said quietly "You get to sleep while I..."

"If you're that tired then get back here" Emily told him, "It's big enough for two."

"What?" Hotch asked.

"Ah, quit your bitching and get back here" Emily ordered "Or no one will get any rest. They'll obviously see us under that street light. So they'll know we're in here. Now move."

Hotch muttered, "All right, all right."

Hotch moved to the back of the SUV and laid next to her, wrapping his arm around her waist when she rolled on her side.

"What are you doing?" Emily muttered feeling sleep take her over.

"Do you want to roll over and fall on the floor of the car?" Hotch asked seeing her fall asleep.

"Better not try to cop-a-feel while I'm sleeping?" Emily muttered sarcastically.

"Sleep, smart ass." Hotch said feeling her sigh as her head rested on his chest.

Hotch could feel the shift in her body as she slept, he was surprised that he enjoyed spending time outside of the BAU with her.

Watching her sleep made Hotch feel relaxed and at peace, for the first time in a long time, he rubbed his hand up and down her back, hearing her sigh.

Hotch didn't know how much time had pass, but he peeked his head up to see the auto club man arrive.

Looking back down at the sleeping brunette, Hotch felt a wave of regret that they'd go back to their original encounters, supervisor and subordinate. A role he did not want to go back to with her.

"Emily" Hotch said lightly "Emily?"

"Hmm?" Emily muttered as she buried her face in his chest "What?"

"Time to wake up." Hotch coaxed her gently, he could feel her wake up and tense as she realized she was nuzzling her boss.

"Ok" Emily murmured, a sense of loss at the warmth of his comfort.

The two got out of the car when the repairman approached.

"Need some assistance?" the repairman asked.

"Gas" Hotch said "And this check engine light thing came on which shut the car off."

Hotch popped the hood of the car, while Emily watched as the new man, Donny worked on the car.

"There you go" Donny said "All fixed."

Emily signed the receipt ignoring Donny's wandering eye as she got back into the car.

"Are you ok?" Hotch asked glaring at the repairman who drove off.

"I've been leered at by worse." Emily joked "Remember Viper?"

"I'd rather forget that." Hotch said, "So drop you off?"

"Please" Emily said "I can still feel the grease from the tire change."

Hotch drove in silence with Emily who looked out the window, as soon as they pulled up, Emily looked over smiling.

"Thanks" Emily said "And not just for putting up with my attitude, but for being my pillow."

Hotch smirked at that, "No problem."

As Emily was about to close the door she turned and saw a regret look pass Hotch's face.

"Would you like to come up?" Emily asked "Coffee or something? It is awful late to be driving."

"Are you sure?" Hotch asked, he didn't want to leave, he could sense a change in their supervisor/subordinate roles.

"Yeah." Emily said.

Hotch got out of the SUV, and stepped on the curb only to have his armd grabbed by the smiling brunette.

"I'd like to get to know more about you." Emily said with a grin, walking with him inside her building "And I am just too awesome not to get to know."

Hotch chuckled at that, "I can tell."

* * *

Thomas West said, "But at times I wondered if I had not come a long way to find that what I really sought was something I left behind."

* * *

**Until Next Time... **

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	3. Payback, Rossi Style

**It's Friendship**

Disclaimer: **Sighs** Here I go again **grabs bullhorn** CBS and their affiliates own Criminal Minds!

Summary: What happens when Dave demands restitution for the money he loaned out in "Snake Eyes"?

A/N: This one is supposed to be sort of post episode to "Snake Eyes". I hope you all enjoy it.

Thanks for reading, don't forget to leave a review.

* * *

Malcolm S. Forbes said, "One can pay back the loan of gold, but one lies forever in debt to those who are kind."

* * *

Dave walked over to his front door with a grin on his face, when he opened the door he could see the desolate and sullen looks on his friends faces.

"Well, are you just going to stand there or are you going to let us in?" JJ muttered, glaring when she heard the chuckle from behind her.

"And what are you laughing at chuckles?" Emily said whipping her dark head around glaring at her team leader, "And what the hell is he doing here?"

"Supervising" Dave said, "How else could I get you three to come here?"

"Three?" Emily asked with a raised eyebrow, "I thought it was just..."

"Hi" Reid said, walking over to the door, "He roped you in too?"

"Huh" JJ muttered, "I'm not getting a good feeling about this."

Hotch shoved the blonde and brunette through the living room towards the dining room.

"Will you stop that?" Emily hissed out, crinkling her nose when she saw the mess and shifted uncomfortably around.

"Nope." Hotch told her, standing guard at the door.

JJ's blonde head, went straight to the messy kitchen, "Jeez Dave, have you ever thought about hiring a maid?"

"Mariana's off visiting her mother in Seattle." Dave told the two women.

Reid shifted around looking from their older friend to the team leader, "Your body language indicates that you're both up to something, what is it?"

"Hmm" Dave said, holding in a smirk, "Shall I do the honors, Aaron, or would you like to?"

Hotch waved it off, "Your home, your plan."

"Will you two-speed it along? I've got plans later." Emily grumbled.

"Not anymore" Dave told her with a whisper, "I asked Garcia to switch around your massage appointment" watching Emily's jaw drop, "Your day in the park with Will and Henry" he told the blonde, turning to Reid, "And you really had no plans."

"What the hell are you pulling?" Emily asked, "This isn't very funny, fellas."

Dave lifted up his hands, "You know that little thing, I did yesterday?"

JJ's perfect eyebrow rose up, "What? Loaning us the fifty thousand for the buy in?"

Dave nodded, "Now I know you three know that money doesn't grow on trees" he sighed, "I sold many copies of my books to earn that dinero."

Reid licked his lips, "Dave, are you blackmailing us?"

Dave chuckled, wrapping an arm around the young, lengthy profiler, "Blackmail is such an ugly word, I wouldn't call it that."

"I would" JJ said, looking over at Emily, "He's extorting us."

"The definition of extortion is the fact that one person has..." Reid started only to have Dave cover his mouth, making him muffle then nod.

Dave removed his hand, "All right, now here's the deal" he looked at the three agents, "You don't want to get in trouble for hitting me up for the buy-in and superseding the 'higher ups' by breaking protocol, right?"

"Right" Emily said taking the lead of the three agents, "And?"

"You three have to do a few things for me." Dave said seriously.

Looking to her two friends, then Hotch before making eye contact with Dave, "What about Morgan and Garcia? Why aren't they here?"

Cocking his head to the side with a mischievous look, "They've got their own issues, and besides they didn't strong-arm fifty g's out of me."

Both women leaned in to talk then pulled Reid into their little huddle, before Emily looked at Dave.

"What do we have to do?" Emily asked.

Emily pulled her glove covered hand out of the sink, rubbing her face only to curse out loud.

"I don't hear the dishes being scrubbed" Dave called out from the living room, "I better hear the sound of water running under some plates otherwise I'm not going to be a happy camper."

"I've got your happy camper right here, Rossi" Emily muttered, picking up the sponge pondering if she could hit him all the way from here before making a break for it.

"Quit your complaining at least you don't have to scrub grime out of a linoleum floor" JJ said, "I swear that man is a damn sadist. He must have picked up tips from every Disney movie known to man."

"Yeah, he's got Wicked Stepmother written all over him" Emily snickered to JJ, "I feel for his maid. That woman must be a saint."

JJ looked up from her task, "The woman deserves a freaking Gold Medal."

The brunette looked over her shoulder seeing the two men talking in the living room, "Say something to Hotch..."

JJ furrowed her eyebrows, "Why Hotch? Why not Dave?"

Hotch stood in the doorway, clearing his throat, smirking when he saw the two women freeze up, "You know I hear a lot of talking but don't see any cleaning. Why is that?"

JJ blew out a huffed sigh, her hair blowing from the action, "Hotch, we're tired."

"Well, you're going to be even more tired when you're still here cleaning at three in the morning" Hotch said evenly, not missing the way both women froze at that, "Now are you two going to be drama queens with the bitching or pay your friend back for the fifty thousand you borrowed for the case?"

JJ threw the sponge back into the bucket and got back down on the floor, while Emily turned back to the dishes.

"Still say it's not a crime to use the dish washer." she muttered.

"He does have a dish washer, she calls herself Emily today" Hotch said walking to the sliding glass door and opening it, "How's it going out there Reid?"

Both JJ and Emily try to peek outside, and hear the younger agent clearly.

"I can't rake up all these leaves by myself" Reid called back, "Can't you send Emily or JJ out here?"

Exchanging quick glances, neither wanted that job or the ones that they currently had, but they needed a plan.

"Uh, Hotch?" Emily said, turning the faucet off, "I need to speak with Dave..."

"Regarding?" he asked.

"It's personal" she told him, taking a deep breath, "It only concerns me and him."

Before he could react she threw off the gloves and wandered into the living room leaving the blonde in stunned belief but holding a small glimmer of hope that she'd get them out of this.

"You know what she wants?" Hotch asked with a skeptical glance.

"No." she said, soaking the sponge in the bucket, slowly going back to her task.

Both Hotch and JJ looked up when the brunette stormed back in, obviously angry.

"What happened?" JJ asked, a small smile on her face.

Emily marched back to the sink, "Don't want to talk about it."

Standing in the downstairs guest bathroom, Emily and JJ were both trying not to cringe while they got to their latest task.

"This is nuts" Emily said, reaching for the extension handle to the shower head, "I mean it's one thing to clean his house like a frigging maid, but this? This is a whole different thing... especially with that."

"Hold him still" JJ said, while Reid tightened his grip on the back, "Reid, you keep a firm grip on him now."

"I'm trying" Reid murmured, "But he won't..." he groaned, "Hold still."

"Quit your yapping and get back to work." Hotch said, leaning against the door frame.

JJ's messy hair, which was pulled back into bun fell in her eyes, and while she tried to blow air on it to move it, the sound of Mudgie's barking made the two women flinch as the dog started shaking her wet fur on the three agents.

Dave walked up, "You need to take extra special care of Mudgie" he cooed at the barking animal, "The old girl needs extra tender, loving care."

Emily muttered underneath her breath, "They're both nuts."

"I'm not nuts" Hotch said sharply, "And you two were the ones that took advantage of Dave's generosity and money" looking over at Reid, "And you walked out without the poker chips."

Reid licked his lips stammering, "Well I thought... getting the unsub was more important than grabbing the chips... I mean he was a serial killer on the loose."

That made the two men pause, while the two women shot Reid a grateful look.

"Yeah, well..." Dave said, "You two still hit me up for the money..."

"To get into the high stakes poker game to capture an unstable man" Emily retorted feeling her energy back, "And I for one don't feel bad about that."

JJ picked up on that, "You couldn't get the funds for the buy-in so we had to use 'alternative' means."

"Alternative means?" Dave scoffed, "I hardly think residuals for my books can be considered alternative means."

"It's not like we had the money ourselves, otherwise we would have used our own money." Reid added, then sneezed when the dog shook her wet hair at the agents.

"Ugh" Emily said, standing up pulling off the gloves, "Look if you want to be paid back, I'll call up my Mother and beg her to cut a check, but I am not a maid."

"But you do enjoy being a neat freak" Hotch commented, "Who'd have thought you'd throw such a fit over cleaning?"

Raising her eyebrow she looked him in the eye, "There's a difference between cleaning my own home top to bottom, then cleaning a co-workers."

The brunette grabbed the two younger agents, "You want a clean house, Dave?" she said, "Hire another maid while Mariana's having her vacation, because these maids" looking at Reid, "And butler quit."

Reid opened mouth gape at that, while JJ huffed out, "Go hit up Hotch to clean the rest, since he had no problem with letting us take your money."

The three agents stormed out of the mansion, while the wet dog slinked between the two men.

"Don't even give me that look, Rossi" Hotch said, "There's no way in hell I'm cleaning your house."

Mudgie noticed a squirrel by the sliding glass door and shaking her wet fur, getting the two men soaked in wet dog fur.

"Ugh" Hotch groaned out.

"Bad, Mudgie" Dave commented, while the wet dog ran for the door flap escaping outside, "Uh, Aaron?"

Hotch headed for the door, "Nope, I told you this was a bad idea Dave."

Dave shook his head watching the last of his friends leave, then narrowed his eyes wondering if he could convince the junior cadets that cleaning his home would put them in good favor with the director.

Dave chuckled at that, hearing his beloved dog bark in the backyard getting dirty all over again he sighed and sat down, waiting for the overly excited dog wear herself out before bringing her in to get cleaned up again.

"Damn smart agents" Dave muttered to himself glad to know that the three younger agents hadn't figured out his ruse of using them as free labor, "Still got it, Rossi."

Mudgie trudge in through the dog door, dirty and muddy running over to her owner making Dave groan at the messy dog.

"Yep, still got it." he muttered.

* * *

"What he needs is some way to payback. Not some way to borrow more." Will Rogers

* * *

**Until Next Time... **

Hope you all enjoyed the story, don't forget to leave a review.


	4. Stranded

**It's Friendship **

Disclaimer: CBS owns Criminal Minds, dig it?

Summary: Hotch and Emily are left behind when the team has to unexpectedly return to Quantico, and trying to get home turns out to be a difficult...

A/N: So I was repeatedly asked where this story went, and I decided to re-edit some errors and add it to this series. Enjoy.

Thanks for reading, I do hope you leave a review.

* * *

Owen Feltham said, "Zeal without humanity is like a ship without a rudder, liable to be stranded at any moment."

* * *

Emily sighed as she looked over at Hotch shutting his cell phone off. He looked beyond angry, she thought he looked down right murderous.

She had only ever seen him look like this twice, and both times the man on the receiving end of that look ended up dead, or wished he was dead.

"What happened?" Emily asked setting her go bag down on the ground as she turned to face him.

"The jet had a malfunction after returning to Quantico," Hotch said sighing, "It can't return to pick us up..."

"So, we'll what, catch a commercial flight, drive back?" Emily asked looking outside, seeing the thunderstorm, "Guess it'll be driving then, I don't like flying in thunder or lightning storms."

"Why?" Hotch asked as they picked up their bags to go to the car rental at the airport.

"Oh, something along the lines of not wanting to get struck while in a plane." Emily said, "Probably just my paranoia but don't want to end up dying in a crash."

Hotch rolled his eyes, "Glad we weren't in the air as you said that."

As the two made their way over to the counter, a friendly woman greeted the dark-haired pair.

"How may I help you today?" the woman asked.

"We'd like a rental please." Hotch said, tired beyond belief.

"And what kind of car would you like?" the woman asked clicking the keyboard, Emily could tell Hotch was losing it so she took over.

"A SUV" Emily said.

"Any particular brand of Sports Utility Vehicle?" the woman asked clicking the computer.

"No." Hotch said seeing the woman tense up as she typed away on the computer.

Hotch was trying to maintain his demeanor as he watched the woman click on the computer for what felt like a year.

"Alrighty" the woman said, "We have a two year old Chevy Tahoe Blazer, a three year old..."

"We'll take the first..." Hotch said but felt Emily shove him lightly.

"The Blazer will be fine." Emily said smiling at the woman.

The woman nodded as she typed on her computer, "Can I see your valid driver's license and would you like to purchase insurance on the vehicle?"

"Sure." Emily said opening her purse but Hotch nodded indicating he'd take care of it.

Emily rolled her eyes, seeing the alpha male take over in him.

"My wallet" Hotch murmured as he reached into his back pocket, "My wallet was in my bag, I left it on the jet."

"I've got it, Hotch" Emily muttered, not caring who paid for it just as long as they got to leave.

Reaching into her bag, she frowned, "Where the hell..."

Hotch watched as she went through her purse several times, "What's wrong?"

"My wallet's gone." Emily said pulling items out of her purse, "It has everything in there, my money, credit cards..."

"Are you sure you had it in that bag?" Hotch asked her seeing her pull out a few dollar bills.

Emily rolled her eyes, "This is the only purse I brought with me Hotch. The last place I remember seeing it was at the diner this morning. Crap all I've got is ten dollar to my name."

"Well call Garcia, she can trace them and see if they're being used." Hotch said pulling out his cell phone, "We'll need Dave to send a money order or purchase on his end a car rental for us..."

Hotch and Emily walked out of the airport feeling relieved and each vowed to buy Dave a big bottle of Scotch for sending out a money order to the check cashing store across the street.

"That car rental woman didn't need to get so snotty about us not having any money." Emily said looking over at Hotch seeing he was in a bad mood, she decided to cheer him up, "Of course that could be from the glare you shot her the second we stepped in front of her."

Hotch let out awry chuckle, "I know, I know. But I can't help it, all I want is to go home, and seeing as that we'll have to drive back, we won't be getting back before Jack gets to bed today."

"Oh" Emily said feeling bad, "Well you can call him and tell him that you're a little stuck and that you'll be home by tomorrow."

As the two walked across the street to the check cashing store, Emily sighed as she seen a clerk outside smoking, seeing the cigarette and being in need of a stress relief she turned to the convenient store next to the check cash store.

"Uh, where are you going?" Hotch asked, "We're suppose to be here for when Dave wires the money."

"I need a get some cigarettes." Emily said seeing his eyes widened, "What? I know it's bad for my health, but it's either smoking or drinking and since I know we'll be trading off the driving, I don't think you want me to plow us into a tree on the drive back..."

"Ugh" Hotch said, "Fine, but hurry. I want to get back as soon as possible."

Hotch stood on the sidewalk pulling out his cell phone dialing Jessica's, relieved that he got to talk to his son.

He was so intent in the conversation he didn't see a young man walk into the check cashing store, and run out a few seconds later with bags of money until a police car pulled up.

"What the hell is going on?" Emily asked a few seconds later with her cigarettes, she looked over to see the store being yellow taped off.

"Excuse me?" Hotch said pulling a young street cop aside, "Agent Hotchner, FBI. What happened?"

"Someone just robbed this place and destroyed a bunch of money orders too," The young cop said, "Shame."

Hotch and Emily looked over at each other she muttered, "Oh man, this really sucks."

"Is there some sort of problem?" the cop asked looking from Hotch to Emily.

"We had a money order waiting for us in there." Emily grumbled, "Looks like we're stuck here."

"Sorry about that." the cop replied going back to his job.

Hotch looked over at Emily, "Guess we call Dave again."

Emily raised an eyebrow at that, "And say what? 'Oh can you send out another couple of thousand dollars? The last place you just sent it to got robbed?' I don't think he'll be too thrilled at that idea."

"Well what do you suggest we do?" Hotch asked, "Call your mother?"

Emily flashed him a look, "Bite your tongue." Shaking her head, "No need to get down right nasty."

Hotch sighed, "Well then what do you suggest?"

Emily bit her lower lip and looked down the street, seeing the sign.

She didn't like it, but there was no other option. She wasn't about to call her mother for the money, or hit any of their friends up for it. And their own wallets were indisposed at the moment.

"Look over there" Emily said pointing towards the left.

"You're joking right?" Hotch asked looking over at Emily like she was crazy, "You seriously can't be contemplating this."

"Oh lighten up, Hotch" Emily said, "It's not that bad."

"Not that bad?" Hotch repeated with a raised eyebrow, "Emily, this is really bad. I think we should try Dave, or anything else but this. This is really hitting rock bottom."

"Oh calm down Hotch," Emily said waving a dismissive hand, "If you got such a problem with it, wait outside."

"Wait outside?" Hotch repeated, "And leave you here with all these vultures?"

Emily rolled her eyes, "There's security in the bar. And bouncers too, it's not a big deal."

Hotch stood in shock as he watched Emily enter the bar, he quickly followed her in, he was not going to leave her in there alone.

"Emily, you don't have to do this..." Hotch said shocked that she had not only decided this but stuck to her guns.

"May I help you?" an overweight bouncer asked, looking from Hotch to Emily.

"Yes," Emily said pointing to the sign, "You have armatures night?"

"Yes" the bouncer said, eyeing Emily up and down.

"What?" Emily asked the bigger man, "You think I won't do it?"

"Didn't say that" the bouncer said, "But this crowd won't be interested in you."

That caught Hotch's attention, clearly this man had to be blind. Who the heck wouldn't be interested in her?

"What?" Emily asked, "Why?"

"Why wouldn't they want to see her strip?" Hotch asked, "Have you seen her?"

"Yeah, and she's not their type." the man said, "Now you on the other hand..."

"What?" Hotch asked looking at the bouncer.

Emily looked over at the bouncer then the crowd of men in the bar, "Oh..."

Hotch shook his head, looking over at Emily, "No, don't even think it."

"Aw come on Hotch." Emily said, pouting, "Come on, it'll be fun."

"No." Hotch told her again.

Dave stood outside looking up and the down the block for the car. He was worried, he hadn't heard from Hotch or Emily in hours, and he had Garcia check and they hadn't cashed the money order he sent.

Dave pulled out his phone, he was about to have Garcia track their phones when he heard an old car drive down the road. He frowned, he could recognize the car as a 1957 Thunderbird. Perfect condition except for the sound of the engine, but he didn't know anyone at the Bureau that drove a classic car.

When he saw them, he couldn't contain the grin that grew across his face.

"So this is what you did with the money that I sent you?" Dave asked, "You go and buy a classic car? How much did this sucker run you?"

Emily and Hotch exchanged looks, "Not a lot." Emily said, "Less than a thousand."

Dave whistled, "Wow. What a bargain."

"Mm hmm we'll pay you back" Emily said looking over at the mute Hotch, "As soon as I find out what happened to my wallet."

"Oh, JJ didn't tell you?" Dave said raising an eyebrow at the evasive look in their faces, "She accidentally grabbed your wallet, it's in your desk inside. So is Hotch's."

"Oh, good to know. We'll leave you a check in your office." Emily said relieved "Well we're going to head in, it's been a long drive."

"Huh" Dave said nodding, he could tell the dark-haired duo were hiding something but they looked too worn out to be hassled today. Smirking, there was always Monday.

"See you Monday, Dave." Hotch said grabbing his go bag and following Emily inside.

"You betcha" Dave said walking closer to the car, and frowning, "Benny's Used Car Lot?"

"Thanks for not saying anything" Hotch whispered, "I would hate for the entire team to know what I did."

Emily looked over, "No problem, sorry I kind of had to force you to strip."

"Don't say that too loud" Hotch said looking over his shoulder as the two walked into the elevator, "I'd hate to have to anyone know about that."

Emily rolled her eyes, "Don't be embarrassed, you were actually pretty good at it."

Hotch chuckled as he placed his hand over his eyes, "Thanks, I think."

"And it's not like you took everything off" Emily said shrugging her shoulders, "I was pretty disappointed at that."

Hotch raised an eyebrow at her, "What?"

"Please if it were me up there, everyone would want to see the girls." Emily said seeing his face flush with embarrassment, "Besides you had nothing to be embarrassed about. What you should be embarrassed about is that I had to help strip you, because of your stage fright."

Hotch cleared his throat, "Well I wouldn't exactly call it stage fright..."

Emily raised an eyebrow at him, "Really? Then what would you call it?"

Hotch paused, "Ok so it was stage fright but I'm not exactly a pro at that... How come you weren't afraid when you were going to do it?"

Emily shrugged, "Not the first time I've done it."

"What?" Hotch asked shocked, "You've... stripped before?"

"Twice," Emily said sighing, "Once in college on a dare and the other time when I was undercover for the C.I.A."

"Huh" Hotch said, "Well that certainly wasn't in your file..."

Emily chuckled, "There's alot in my file that would surprise you."

Hotch watched as the elevator doors opened on to the BAU floor, "Care to share?"

Shrugging, "Only if I'm really drunk."

"Sounds like a date" Hotch said walking her to her desk as he turned to go up to the catwalk, "And I intend to do that."

Emily sat at her desk, "Uh oh, that doesn't sound too good for me."

Emily removed her finished files signing off, as she walked up the catwalk to Hotch in his office, she smiled, _'Maybe being stranded wasn't such a bad idea.'_

* * *

"The man who can keep a secret may be wise, but he is not half as wise as the man with no secrets to keep." Edgar Watson Howe

* * *

**THE END **

I hope you all liked this, leave a review and let me know.


	5. You Can Do It

**It's Friendship**

Disclaimer: CBS owns Criminal Minds, 'nuff said.

Summary: Emily helps train Hotch...

A/N: This came to me while watching a tv show, and thinking about Hotch working out...

Thanks for reading do remember to review...

* * *

"Fitness - if it came in a bottle, everybody would have a great body." Cher

* * *

"You sure about this?" Hotch asked raising an eyebrow at the confident brunette in front of him.

"Absolutely" Emily said, "Come on, you know you want this. This what we've both been looking forward to for a long time."

"Are you sure I'm really ready?" Hotch asked looking at the stairwell.

"We both knew it was going to come to this" Emily told him, "Now quit stalling and walk."

Hotch paused as a skeptical look hit his face, causing Emily to groan in frustration.

"Hotch" Emily said sighing as she placed her hand in his, "This has been a long time coming, I don't think we should waste another minute, do you?"

"No." Hotch said rolling his neck, "But maybe it's not a good idea to rush things."

"You don't have to worry" Emily assured him, "It'll hurt at first but you'll feel a lot better afterwards. Like you've accomplished something positive."

Hotch chuckled, "Ok, ok. You've sold me. Lead the way."

Looking down at their connected hands, "I suppose I can't convince you to let us take the elevator, huh?"

"Nope." Emily said with a grin, "We're doing this the productive way."

"So this is really going to help me?" Hotch asked stalling for time.

"You need to get back into the saddle again" Emily told him, "Either use it or lose it."

Hotch raised an eyebrow at her, "What if I can't go more than one round?"

"Quit stalling, Aaron Hotchner" Emily chastised "It's time."

Emily shoved him forward and he said, "I really have to run all these flight of stairs?"

"You'll enjoy it." Emily said, "Now go or am I going to have to handcuff myself to you?"

Hotch smirked at that thought while she shoved him, "Get your mind out of the gutter."

"But I have so much fun there." Hotch joked then winced as she poked him, "I'm going, I'm going..."

Hotch and Emily reached the first step that of the stairwell and stepped up then down, then back up then down.

"Ready?" Emily asked him looking over at him.

"No" Hotch said giving her a glare.

"Save the glares for someone else" Emily said smirking, "You're the one that asked me to help train you. Would you rather it be Morgan training you?"

Hotch's clamped his mouth shut giving her a look.

"That's what I thought." Emily said, "Now we race. Then after this we'll do some exercise in the park across the street. Ready?"

"Fine." Hotch said groaning in frustration "But I deserve a big treat for this."

"Outside of quitting the triathlon," Emily said pulling her hair into a bun, "You can get whatever you want."

"Really?" Hotch asked eyeing her frame in her work out clothes, "I think I'd like the sound of that."

Jogging through the park, Emily slowed down and turned around to see Hotch grabbing his side, gasping for breath.

"Now that wasn't so hard was it?" Emily asked giving him a smirk when he shot her a look.

"No" Hotch said, "Now can we stop?"

"No, drop and give me twenty." Emily said grinning.

"Seriously?" Hotch asked shocked,"How about a ten and two fives?"

Rolling her eyes as she laughed, "All right fine, no push ups." Looking around she seen a bench, "Lets go over there."

"Oh thank God" Hotch said as the two made their way over to the bench "Now I can finality relax."

Emily grabbed his arm, "Not so fast."

"What?" Hotch asked in an irritated tone, "Can't we rest for five minutes?"

"No rest for the wicked, weary or in training." Emily said, "Now, grab on to the back of the bench and do ten leg lunges."

Hotch grumbled as he moved over to the back of the bench, grabbing on to it as he grumbled.

He leaned forward as he did the leg lunges and panting for breath, he looked up grateful when Emily held out a bottled water.

"For me?" Hotch asked skeptical.

She shook her head and put on a hurt look, "I don't mean to be an old Jane Fonda work out nut, but I just want you to do the absolute level best that I know you can."

Rubbing the back of his head with his hand, "I know, I know." Hotch said, "I'm sorry for being a stick in the mud, complaining nonstop when you didn't have to do this huge favor for me."

Emily sighed, "Fine, you can relax. But just for a minute. I don't want you losing it."

Both sitting down on the bench, Hotch watched as the sweat rolled off her face, cascading down her next then drip off down her shirt.

"Emily?" Hotch said, "Can I ask you something?"

Turning to face him as she took a sip of her water, "Sure."

Inhaling, "How did you become so athletic?" Shaking his head he added, "You weren't as dedicated to this before you went into hiding, I mean."

Emily bit the inside of her cheek, pondering her answer, "Well, when you're in hiding for seven months, you have a lot of time on your hands. And it's not like I could just go out being a bounty hunter or something.." Emily said seeing him watch her with close eyes, "I wanted to remain in shape for when I could come back to the team."

"And hunt him down, right?" Hotch asked.

"I just wanted to be prepared, Hotch." Emily told him, looking around, "Ok, enough with this morose conversation. Breaks over now let's go for a run around the beltway."

Hotch grimaced at that, "I don't know..."

"Oh come on, Hotch" Emily said in pleading tone "We still have time. It's a Saturday, Jack's with Jessica, there's no work so come on."

Hotch rolled his eyes, "How about we make this interesting. A little bet."

"What kind of bet?" Emily asked suspiciously.

Hotch looked over at the beltway and the track that they could run on, "A race, whoever can reach the end of the lamp post by the track wins. You win, I let you train me and won't complain anymore."

"Huh" Emily scoffed with a raised eyebrow, "That's a hot one. And if you win?"

Hotch took a deep breath seeing the bemused look on her face, "You go out on a date with me."

"What?" Emily asked shocked, "What did you just..."

"Go out on a date with me." Hotch repeated proud that he threw her off with the bet, "Well did you suddenly go deaf?"

Emily shot him a look, then looked back at him, "I don't know..." Looking back at the post she said, "Maybe you're right..."

"Huh?" Hotch asked confused feeling a little desolate that she'd actually turn this down.

"Go!" Emily said shoving him back and running for the lamp post "Ha!"

Hotch chased after her, "Oh, you're going to get it, Prentiss."

"Don't think so, Hotchner" Emily called back, "Looks like Prentiss wins, again."

Hotch watched as she ran fast almost reaching the post but at the last second she turned to give him a smirk and tripped over a soccer ball.

Hotch inwardly chuckled as he moved past her and reached the post, pumping his fist in the he smirked at the glowering brunette.

"Looks like I won" Hotch said, "And you won because that means you get to go out with me."

"Whoop-de-doo." Emily muttered, getting up, "Nobody likes a gloater, Hotch."

Raising an eyebrow at her, "Well looks like the shoes on the other foot this time." Hotch said, "Look I do appreciate all your help with the training, but I am only human and humans need breaks every once in a while."

Emily bit her lip, "Fine. No more, I promise." Emily said, "You won fair and square."

Smirking, "Actually I did see you were going to trip but said nothing..." Hotch said.

Raising an eyebrow, "Oh you're just evil."

Shrugging his shoulders, "I had to take a shot."

Giving him a saucy look, "You really wanted to go out with me that badly, all you had to do was ask."

"What?" Hotch asked shocked.

Emily grabbed his grey shirt pulling him into a kiss, feeling him kiss her back and as she deepened it, she pulled back with a smirk on her face seeing him stunned into silence.

"Lets eat." Emily said.

When she turned to walk away, she looked back flashing him a grin, "Coming?"

Hotch rushed to follow her, she turned and looked at him, "I let you win."

Hotch seeming to come out of his phase, "Sure you did."

As Emily walked she looked down when she noticed Hotch holding her hand, she looked up to see him smiling at her making her smile back as she felt her heart skip a beat.

"So where would you like to go for dinner tonight?" Hotch asked watching the brunette falter then smile back.

* * *

"I really don't think I need buns of steel. I'd be happy with buns of cinnamon." Ellen DeGeneres

* * *

**The End**

Well what did you think? Leave a review and let me know.


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